This invention relates to storage units in the form of shelving and components for use in their construction.
Various systems have previously been proposed for constructing shelving from kits of components. One such system includes a plurality of support members adapted to be attached to a wall or like structure and to which shelf members are attached by means of brackets engageable with the support members. Such arrangements require the use of tools to effect assembly, result in damage to the fabric of the wall or other support and are not readily moved from one location to another.
It has also been proposed to construct shelf units from a plurality of timber uprights between which shelf members are mounted to form a free-standing assembly. Such arrangements also require the use of tools to effect assembly and can be erected to form an assembly of only one predetermined height and width. Such systems are not readily disassembled and can only be relocated in locations where wall space of the same dimensions is available.
In our co-pending U.K. patent application No. 0030597.9 there is disclosed a set of components for the construction of a shelf assembly comprising at least four uprights of a length approximating to a predetermined shelf spacing, at least one shelf member, and a plurality of locating members engageable with said uprights and provided with locating means engageable with the or each shelf member to form a shelf assembly supported on the uprights. The present invention is concerned with shelf components which may be used with such shelf assemblies or in other situations where rigidity under load is required.
The invention provides a load-bearing plank-like member adapted to be supported by its ends on support members having a plurality of peg members engageable with complementary apertures in the plank member, in which the plank member is of hollow cross-section and incorporates at least one internal longitudinal web disposed parallel to the load bearing surface of the plank member, said web being spaced from the underside of the plank member by a distance less than the length of said peg members, vertically aligned complementary apertures being formed in the underside of the member and in said web, whereby when the plank member is engaged with said support member each of said pegs engages with apertures both in the underside of the member and in said web.
Preferably said web is disposed closer to the upper load-bearing surface of the plank member than to the underside of the plank member.
Preferably said pegs and said apertures are of circular cross-section. Preferably also at least two pairs of aligned apertures are provided at each end of the plank-like member. The plank-like member is preferably formed from plastics material by extrusion.
The internal longitudinal web member may extend across the full width of the plank member. Preferably however the plank member incorporates one or more vertically disposed, longitudinally-extending, internal web members defining a plurality of adjacent longitudinally-extending cavities, the horizontal web member or members extending across at least one and preferably two or more of said cavities.
Advantageously, the plank-like member may comprise a slat, a plurality of which are located adjacent to one another in spaced parallel relationship to define a shelf. Preferably the pegs with which said apertures of the respective plank members engage are all mounted on a common support member.
Thus the invention also provides a set of components for the construction of a shelf assembly comprising at least two support members provided with upstanding peg members and at least one plank member as aforesaid adapted for engagement at its opposite ends with respective ones of the support members to extend therebetween.
The support members may comprise uprights adapted to form end supports for a shelf assembly. Alternatively the support members may comprise brackets adapted to be mounted on a wall or other support between which the plank member extends.
The plank member may be of a width sufficient of itself to form a shelf. Alternatively the plank member may comprise a narrow slat, a plurality of which are mounted side by side on said support members to define a shelf between them.
The invention also provides a shelf assembly or like load-bearing structure constructed from a set of components as aforesaid.